:: Reaching Nepal ::

It? may have taken 2 1/2 days but? I finally made it to Railai Beach. This morning I? got up and took a minibus to the beach and from the beach a boat to West Railai Beach and then I walked a while until? I found East Railai Beach. Once? I arrived? I found out that everything is booked here. But I’ve learned that the words “always” and “never” don’t always prove true. I walked up to the front desk of the hotel where my friends are staying and asked if they had a room available. Th lady just laughed, which is never a good sign, but then she said “you are a lucky man.” She then handed me keys to the only room they had. Once again God provides!

I was able to climb a bit today. Nothing crazy yet. I just went to the beach a climbed some low stuff. I had a great time. Tonight there a crazy wild parties all over the beaches so my friends and I have chosen to stay indoors and celebrate the new year watching movies and eating juke food. Crazy stuff huh?

I miss you all this New Year. I hope 2006 has been as good to you as it has been to me.

After 3 bus rides for a total of 17 hours I am now in Krabi. My plan was to take a boat out to where my friends are today but? I was so beat I decided to wait until morning. For dinner tonight I had a BBQ chicken pizza from The Pizza Company and an Oreo Blizzard from DQ. That may not sound like a big deal to you but trust me it is!

Well? I arrived in Bangkok last night and upon arriving at the guesthouse I had planned to stay at I was told they were full. No big deal. I walked around a bit and found a hotel with a room available. My plan was to fly out to Krabi? and go climbing today but again God had other plans. I got online to buy the tickets and my order wouldn’t go through. I then called the airline and they were sold out. Next I went to two travel agents and they told me all the airlines were sold out. Undetered I got in a taxi and headed to the bus station only to find out that every bus going to Krabi for the next two days is full. Honesty I’m not frustrated at all. I love doing vacation like this- just roll with the punches! Finally I got a ticket to a town about 5 hours from Krabi. This way I can get closer to my destination and hopefully by then the buses will have emptied out a bit. Saying all that, I am excited to see what God has in store for the rest of my trip. Pray that I will use this time to refocus and that He? will draw me closer to Himself and make me more effective in the years to come.

I left Kathmandu this morning and now I’m sitting in an internet shop in Bangkok. It’s getting crazy late so I will keep this short. I will let you know when I get to the beach!

This week has been a little laid back. I finished up school over a week ago so I?ve had time to relax and focus on a few other things. On Thursday my discipleship group held a Christmas party at my home. We had 19 unbelievers come and each of them heard a clear presentation of the Gospel. Since the party we?ve had several people talk to us about there interest in Jesus. Pray that God continues to open doors with these people.

On a less spiritual note, I?ve picked up the sport of rock climbing over the last few months. I climbed a little back in the states, but I never very often. Next week I am flying to Thailand to take a seminary class but before that I will spend a week or so climbing on in some of the most beautiful places in the world. The company I work for likes us to take some vacation time so what better place than the beaches of Thailand.

Yesterday, while driving my motorbike home from lunch, a rock the size of a quarter flew up from the road and hit me strait in the eye. If that sounds bad well it was. As soon the rock hit my eye I was blinded. Thankfully there was no one around me so I was able to pull the bike over safely. I was then able to drive home ok and after arriving I decided I needed a nap. About 6:30pm I woke up and realized my right eye’s vision was still blurry from the accident. I talked to Sujan, my doctor friend, and he came over and took me to the hospital. Actually he took me to two hospitals. We went to the first hospital and after leaving Sujan said we needed a second opinion. After the second hospital, they had ruled our any permanent damage. I went back this morning to be check by the head doctor and to have a retinal scan. They finally decided that there was no serious damage to my eye and that over the next few weeks my vision should be back to normal.

Now for those who are freaking out….my mom, Jenni, Bethany, Randi, Mandi, and various other people; I’m ok. My eye looks ok, I’m not in pain, and I can already tell my vision going back to normal. Don?t worry God kept me safe.

Your prayers worked. My exams are over and I passed with flying colors! Keep praying for my studies. I have a long way to go before I can ever say I’ve mastered Nepali. Miss you all.

This is a crazy week for language. I finished my first semester of classes last Thursday and this week I am doing my exams. I’ve learned that in Asia they don’t joke around about exams. Get this, my Nepal language exam started on Monday and goes through Thursday and each day is three hours long. That’s 12 hours of language exams people! I was terrified before the first test on Monday, but now that I am half way through this big exam I’m a bit more relaxed. I won’t get my results for a while, but I feel like I’m doing well. Praise Jesus! Keep praying hard. I still have two days to go.

Good Morning to all. To my surprise I have been getting angry emails asking why I haven’t been posting on my blog. I had no idea so many people faithfully read. I am humbled and grateful. I received a few at first but then when my mom said something about it I knew I best start keeping it up again.

Nothing really exciting is happening right now. I bought a Christmas tree this week and once I set it up it made my house feel like a home. It totally changed the atmosphere in my living room. Everyone who sees it gets really excited. As you might guess Christmas trees are not very common around here.

On that note a few people have been asking what I want for Christmas. I’m not in anyway asking for presents, but some really want to send me something. If you will go to the link below I have put a few things on a wish list at Amazon.com. Keep in mind that shipping stuff from your place to Nepal isn’t cheap.

Along with that I thought of a few things you could pick up easily:
Starburst candy
gravy mix
ranch dressing powder mix (make sure it’s the kind you just add water)
A picture of your family
hot chocolate
allspice spice
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

If you do get the idea to mail me something make sure you send it through the post office and send it “air priority”. My address is:

PO Box 8975
EPC 1462
Kathmandu
Nepal

Keep in mind I’m not asking for gifts, but for those of you who wanted to know here’s what I could come up with.? Love you all!